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11:41 am
23 September 2010
Offline
Mattie is not a tripawd, but I have a question. When I got Mattie at 8 weeks old, she had a massive UTI. It took months of anti inflammatories and anti-biotics to clear it up. One vet recommended that I wait to spay Mattie until after her first heat because of all the trouble she had as a young pup. What is the advantage of waiting until she goes through a heat? At first the vets thought that her reproductive parts connected to the ureter too high up and that was the reason for the infections returning. After the cultures began coming back free of bad bacteria, Mattie was still having accidents in the house. One vet did an ultrasound and found that she had a thickened bladder wall. Two months of anti inflammatories later, Mattie stopped having accidents. Should I still wait to have her fixed? Thanks
I'm just going to throw a couple things out here. I think I have heard that about waiting until after they have a heat, not sure why. How old is Mattie. How comfortable are you with your vet, I wonder if a second opinion might be in order to see if you get the same recommendations or diagnosis. Not trying to spend any extra money for you, but a second opinion might help give you information for making a decision. Lately I have seen a post or 2 where someone mentioned that waiting to neuter a dog might help the dog from getting cancer, I think I saw waiting until 8-10 months, not sure why but I did read something about an association with bone development, might be worth asking about females also. Good luck, Paws up, Spirit Gus and Dan
My buddy Gus had a left front amputation on April 7, 2010 and lived a great life until July 26,2010
2:33 pm
Yes, I would get a second opinion. I have heard that it's better to wait for their first heat, but have also been told do it prior to their first heat (at 6-7 months of age). Skyler & Chloe were both done at 7 months. Good luck, and keep us posted.
5:52 pm
Vet Expert
Vets
Members
23 August 2008
Offline
The age to spay depends on the breed. Smaller breeds can safely be done at 4-6 months because most of their long bone growth is done. Larger breeds should wait until 8-9 months. Your vet told you to wait because some cases of vaginitis or other urinary issues can actually improve if the dog goes through 1 heat cycle; most likely due to the effects of estrogen. Since your dog is normal now I would ask your vet for his/her opinion.
Pam
Sorry for the late thank you, but thank you. I had scheduled Mattie for the spay recently. The vet (not the same vet nor the same facility as those that recommended to wait until after first heat) looked her over and said she was probably done growing, so the bones were not an issue, however, he looked at her girl parts and said he thought she should go through another heat to try and avoid the problem of "leaking" urine and recurrent UTI.
I am not a big fan of early spay/neuter. Opie was neutered at 4 months and I regretted doing that. I still can't shake the idea that the early spay/neuter may be a contributing factor in osteosarcoma.
Thanks again!
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